Taking Down Trump 2.0 - Rule 11
If Trump is lashing out at you, it means you're winning. Don't back down. Some of the law firms Trump is attacking understand this -- while others are foolishly caving and bending the knee.
We are nearing the end of the Taking Down Trump 2.0 series, adapting the rules for defeating Trump in court and applying them to the current political and legal battles — and once again we find a constant, a truism, in any situation involving Donald Trump.
11 - Trump will lash out at opponents and their lawyers — ignore it, it means you’re on the right track.
Trump only lashes out at those who are in fact scoring points on him. His attacks are actually signs of fear and desperation. So the wise opponent will not quail from Trump’s attacks nor surrender and kiss his ring, but will hold fast, knowing that their own shots have been hitting their mark.
This has been true not only of opposing parties but of prosecutors and even judges and their relatives as well — think not just of E. Jean Carroll (Trump has attacked her so many times, it has resulted in multiple different defamation lawsuits against him, and multiple layers of damages), but also of New York AG Letitia James, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Judge Tanya Chutkan, Judge Arthur Engoron, and Fulton County DA Fani Willis, just to name a few.
The key is to view his attacks in the right light — as a sign that one should keep going rather than retreating.
The latest cadre of Trump opponents are now facing that choice. Some are seeing the situation well and choosing wisely. Others are not.
Trump’s personal attacks on large law firms that have opposed him in some way grows more extensive week by week — now encompassing Covington & Burling, Paul Weiss, Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and more. The supposed “offenses” to Trump consisted of past representation of plaintiffs against Trump, or past assistance to prosecutors who were investigating Trump, or the hiring of such prosecutors after the investigations were complete. Trump’s vengeance on these firms has consisted of (a) stripping federal security clearances from the firms’ lawyers, (b) banning the firms’ lawyers from federal office buildings, and (c) threatening to strip government contracts from clients of the firms.
Several of the firms have responded correctly, by standing strong and punching back — and enlisting other lawyers in the process. Perkins Coie hired DC powerhouse firm Williams & Connolly and swiftly won a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Trump administration. WilmerHale followed suit, hiring conservative legal rockstar Paul Clement and winning a TRO of their own.
Other firms, not so much.
Paul Weiss bent the knee, cutting a deal to provide $40 million in pro bono legal services to Trump-approved projects.
One of Paul Weiss’s rivals, Skadden, then decided that it could not be outdone in craven sycophancy and gave up $100 million in pro bono work to Trump — and Skadden had not even been targeted yet.
The cowardice from these firms is actually hilarious to behold: supposedly tough, ruthless, multi-billion-dollar firms with hundreds of lawyers that hold themselves out as hardcore badasses, completely abasing themselves at the foot of a petty tyrant. Or, rather, it would be hilarious if it were not so disgusting.
Yet perhaps after the laughter and the nausea we can simply rest on calling this behavior what it really is.
Stupidity.
Trump’s bark is far, far worse than his bite. The bark is deafeningly loud, and the bite may never follow at all. It’s the threat of a bite that has long been Trump’s best weapon in any kind of litigation dispute — whereas his actual record in litigation in the last 12 years has been laughably poor. Remember, even when it came to the prosecutions against him, Trump did not actually beat anyone in court: he simply delayed the matters long enough that he never faced any prison sentence prior to the 2024 election, after which he was able to get the matters shut down. Along the way, he was able to stoke the fear, trepidation, hesitation, and cowardice of some of the prosecutors, especially Manhattan DAs Cy Vance and Alvin Bragg as well as AG Merrick Garland, who delayed their own cases for years and thus left themselves without enough time to bring Trump to justice.
Cowering to Trump is not only shameful, it is foolish — being scared of Trump’s shadow, or of one’s own shadow, rather than seeing the litigation landscape clearly and realizing how favorable that terrain really is.
Perkins and Wilmer fought back and quickly starting beating Trump in court. Paul Weiss and Skadden kissed Trump’s ring and thus lost their fights in the most humiliating way possible.
Those who give in to the cloud of fear Trump creates will lose to him — even if they are otherwise well-resourced prosecutors or litigators. Those who can see clearly and stand firm will prevail.
It gets worse for the ones who cave, Disney is a perfect example. Bending the knee does not get him off your back, he will continue to come after you because he knows you lack spine, cowards.
You are absolutely correct! Unity and cooperation within all the institutions Trump is attempting to demolish is the only way we survive his chaos!